Action-Packed Home Stand Ends

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. - The Storm hosted the Visalia Rawhide and Inland Empire 66ers during the largest homestand of the season beginning on July 4^th.
A spirited sellout crowd on the 4^th of July were not only treated to a patriotic post-game firework spectacular, but they also witnessed one of the best finishes to a Storm game this season. As the Rawhide and Storm were knotted up 2-2 heading into the bottom of the 11^th inning, Padres #15 Prospect Hudson Potts stepped to the plate and ripped a single over the opposing shortstops head into left-center field to score Eguy Rosario for the game-winning run. The Eyes came away with a 3-2 victory on America's birthday, snapping their 3-game home losing streak.
As the heat wave made its presence known at The Diamond over the weekend, the Storm bats caught fire with plenty of runs crossing the plate. Following a 2-1 win on Thursday, the Eyes entered the bottom of the 7^th inning on Friday trailing 7-4, until catcher Luis Torrens stepped to the plate and completed the comeback with a 2-Run Single that scored Kelvin Melean and Nate Easley. Out of the bullpen, recent MLB draftee Cody Tyler stepped up in relief with two shutout innings en route to his first professional win in a 9-7 victory. Southpaw Nick Margevicius also had a special weekend as he made his Diamond debut after being called-up from Fort Wayne (A). The offense supported his pitching efforts early and often with a 7-run 1^st inning and 4-run 3^rd inning. With an 11-0 lead at his command, the Ohio native tossed six shutout innings for his first win at the California League level.
After an impressive 4-game winning streak, the Storm dropped the finale to the Rawhide by the final of 8-1 and continued losing ways the following two nights against the Angels affiliate, Inland Empire 66ers. The offense came to play during a #WINSday celebration as first baseman Brad Zunica started the fun with a 2-Run HR to centerfield in the first inning to give an early 2-0 lead. The biggest hit in the game came in the bottom of the 4^th as Nate Easley ripped a line drive to left-center field that got past the outfielders following a nasty collision. He rounded the bases all the way home to take the lead for good 5-3. Behind a quality start by Padres #23 Prospect Pedro Avila, the losing streak would be snapped with a 10-4 victory. Unfortunately, the home stand ended on a sour note as the 66ers took advantage of pitching woes and base running blunders for the home team. Inland Empire scored in six of the nine innings on their way to an 8-4 win, take the series three games to one and moving one game ahead of Lake Elsinore in the overall standings.            
The Storm will head out for a 4-game road trip this weekend at The Hangar against the Colorado Rockies affiliate Lancaster JetHawks before coming home for a 6-game homestand beginning on Wednesday, July 18^th that will welcome the Modesto Nuts and San Jose Giants to town for the final time this season! You can purchase tickets for any of our remaining home games either online at stormbaseball.com or give us a call at 951-245-HITS (4487). Keep your #EyesOn25!